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Brantford-Brant

Port Dover lot 'slam dunk' opportunity: Veri

The Port Dover Board of Trade wants to form a partnership with Norfolk County to purchase this lot on the corner of Main and Chapman St. If successful, the space would be converted into a parking lot.
JACOB ROBINSON/Simcoe Reformer

Port Dover Board of Trade president Adam Veri called an opportunity to partner with Norfolk County to purchase a vacant lot in the lakeside town a “slam dunk”.

Veri appeared before Norfolk council Tuesday to address an empty lot on the corner of Main and Chapman streets. The board of trade estimates the lot could hold between 20-30 vehicles and also potentially accommodate a portable washroom trailer. Veri said the town has lost about 60 parking spaces due to various work being done in the past decade.

“There's been a considerable loss of parking and in that same time Port Dover has become more of a year-round destination,” Veri told council. “It's not just a matter of being busy in the summer anymore, we are finding it busy in the winter and people need a place to park ... we don't want that to become a problem.”

Veri said the board of trade constantly fields calls about the lack of parking in Port Dover from both tourists and businesses.

“It's not too often that a relatively affordable, slam-dunk opportunity comes our way and I think this is maybe not once-in-a-lifetime but an uncommon opportunity to address this need,” he added.

A conditional offer of $299,000 for the lot was accepted in June, but nothing has happened since. An environmental assessment has been completed and contamination concerns have been identified. The current owners are passing cleanup costs to potential buyers, but a cleanup is not required to pave the lot.

The board of trade has offered to contribute $25,000 to be paid in $5,000 instalments over the next five years.

The lot would do more than simply add parking for beachgoers, Veri pointed out. He feels it would provide “ongoing returns to the business community”.

“There's an opportunity to grow our downtown core another whole block in a really productive way,” he said.

Simcoe Councillor Doug Brunton suggested the county should look at if the contaminants have spread beyond the lot line. Veri said that information would become available should council wish to proceed.